232 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 20, 1912. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Barbados. 



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glgriciilturiil ^tm 



Vol. XI. SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1912. No. 267. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this issue completes a review of 

 certain Theories Concerning Soil Fertility. The theo- 

 ries specially dealt with, were put forward in an article 

 in the last number of the Agricultural News, and the 

 purpose of this is to present a criticism of those 

 theories. 



Page 229 contains an account of a little-known 

 oil-yielding plant that exists in the \Vest Indies. The 

 matter may become of greater interest at some future 

 time. 



The subject of the availability of rock phosphate 

 receives attention im page 231. The effect of mixing 

 this with natural manures and compost is dealt with 

 more particularly. 



On page 234, the Insect Notes contain interesting 

 articles on A New Pest of Cowpeas, The Cane Fly in 

 Martinique, as well as a note on The Brown Hard-back. 

 The pest mentioned in the first of these articles was 

 observed originally by the Entomologist to this De- 

 partment, on cowpeas, in Barbados. 



Page 23.5 contains an article describing experi- 

 ments with Funtumia rubber, carried out in Southern 

 Nigeria. 



The Fungus Notes in this issue are contained on 

 page 238. They deal with a bud disease of the coco- 

 nut palm in Mexico, which is attributed to Pythiivm 

 2Kihnivorum, the fungus that has been proved to cause 

 a similar disease of palms in India. 



Oil from the Guayule Rubber Plant. 



As is well known, this plant {Partheniuin argen- 

 tatam) has attained much importance in Mexico, 

 where it is native, as a source of rubber chiefly for the 

 United States. It has been brought to notice lately 

 as a plant that is capable of yielding oil. 



The Semi-Annual Report of Messrs. Schimuiel 

 & Co., dated April 1912, states that the plant contains, 

 in addition to rubber, about 0'.5 per cent, of essential: 

 oil, calculated on the drv material. 



The oil that was examined was prepared from 

 material grown in Mexico, and dried quite shortly 

 before it was .shipped. The yield was ab(jut 015 per 

 cent, of a greenish-yellow, fiintly leavo-rotatory oil 

 consisting entirely of hydrocarbons; the small yield ot 

 oil is stated to be due to the fact that no suitable dis- 

 tilling plant for work on a large scale was available for 

 use. 



Material that had been stored for some time was 

 also subjected to distillation; this yielded an oil rich in 

 oxygen, which when distilled left a residue of .about .50 

 l^er cent, resin. 



It is stated that the oil of P. argentatam possesses 

 a marked similarity to oil of German chamomile, but as 

 is stated by Messrs. Schimmel they differ completely 

 in their chemical constittition. 



Nature Teaching and Hygiene in British Guiana 



Schools. 



The report of the Inspiector of Schools, British 

 Guiana, for 1911-12, indicates that interest continues 

 to be maintained in the subject of nature knowledge, 

 but that a large amount of work remains to be done 

 before the teaching attains a satisfactory standard. 

 The usefulness to teachers of the publication Nature 

 Teaching is emphasized, and it is stated that this book 

 should be employed by every teacher, 'who is at all 

 desirous of learning how to put before his class in the 

 simplest possible language and in a perfectly clear and 

 intelligent manner the elementary principles of Nature 

 Knowledge.' Stress is also laid upon the use of the 

 simple experiments that are described in the book. Ib- 

 is further advised that the pupils should be made more, 

 commonl}' to describe and illustrate with drawings the 

 experiments conducted by the teacher. 



As regards elementary hygiene, the fault continues 

 to exist by which pupils are taught rather to repeat 

 the test of the pamphlets used by the teachers than 

 to understand the principles and practice of hyg- 

 iene. As in the case of nature study, more experi- 

 ments are wanted; this section of the report concludes, 

 however, in the following way: 'I am afraid it is only, 

 too true that a great many teachers all over the country 

 are not sufficiently enthusiastic to give a moment's 

 thought to any lesson on the time table, be it hygiene,' 

 or any other subject, before reaching school for their 

 day's work.' 



